


All The Wounds That Are Ever Gonna Scar Me

by notthebigspoon



Series: Burn It To The Ground [1]
Category: Baseball RPF, Walking Dead (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-03
Updated: 2012-05-03
Packaged: 2017-11-04 18:31:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/396898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notthebigspoon/pseuds/notthebigspoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's just chance that the three of them made it out together, just like it's just chance that they run into Rick Grimes & Co. Madison thinks that Daryl Dixon may be the best hand that fate's ever dealt him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	All The Wounds That Are Ever Gonna Scar Me

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd, so there's probably plenty of mistakes and they're all my own. Wasn't actually intending to slant towards Daryl/Madison and it might not even end up there but let's face it... it's me. More likely than not the good ol' boys are gonna find true love.

Madison will never call it luck, because as far as he knows, his wife is dead. Tim's family is probably dead. He knows that Posey's wife is dead, because he was the one who had to watch her die.   
Whatever it was, he'll go with chance, it was only pure chance that he and Tim were both in Georgia when the outbreak hit. Posey had wheedled them into it, saying that they kept promising to come down and check things out and they never did. They hadn't had anything else to do that weekend, him and Tim, so they'd given in and caught a flight out with Buster. They spent Friday night driving around Leesburg, and when they went back to Buster's house, they drank beer and slept in the garage where they'd been playing poker.

The next day, Madison had stumbled into the house following the scent of coffee only to find Lincecum, Posey and Kristen standing in the living room, watching the TV in utter silence. The news was broadcasting the outbreak. He can't remember much of what followed after that. Just plans and stockpiling and figuring out where to go. They'd thought, at first, that staying in Leesburg was the way to go. Quiet and out of the way, surely they would be safer there.

But then, the phones stopped working. Television stopped airing. Buster's friends and family had started to become infected. When Kristen died, that was it. Madison and Kristen had been in the back, keeping a careful eye on the kids while they got to play, Tim and Buster had been in the garage organizing their supplies. Madison had been watching the twins... he hadn't thought to be watching Kristen as well. Not until he heard a loud shriek and had turned around to see two of those.. of those things on her, already ripping skin from bone. His first instinct had been to charge her, but Kristen had only screamed at him to save the twins. She was dying, a slow and agonizing death, and all she was concerned with was saving her children. 

Madison had hesitated, but then the creatures had looked at the twins and he'd snatched them, Lee under one arm and Addison under the other, then sprinted to the garage as Buster and Tim were running his way. He'd ignored them, shoved the kids into the backseat of Buster's SUV and started throwing their supplies into the back. Tim had had to try and wrestle Buster back into the house. It'd only been the sight of a herd of the creatures coming out of the woods that had gotten Buster into the car. They ran straight over one as they tore out of the driveway.

Madison still hates himself for leaving Kristen behind. He still wishes that it had been him. Sometimes he wonders if Buster does too. Sometimes he knows Buster does.

But that had been months ago and dwelling on the past too long these days means death now. Their biggest concern, his and Tim's and Buster's, was protecting Lee and Addy. They each had their own roles now. Buster and Madison hunted and fished, got them fresh meat. Tim was a scavenger, as Buster liked to describe it. If you wanted it, give Tim a backpack and a handgun. He'd bring it back for you. 

Finding the group by the bridge had been an accident. Tim had managed to get them a full tank of gas and took that as a chance to move on in search of a safer location. It had only been a half hour drive when they saw the orange-red glow of a fire and a cluster of vehicles. Madison had went down first, to see if it was safe to connect with the other survivors. It was his turn, Tim had gone last time and they never sent Buster. The kids had already lost their mother, they didn't need to lose their father too. 

It had taken a little wheedling. Explaining that there were only two other men and that all they wanted was a shared campground for the night, and to trade news of who they've met and what they've found out about the outbreak. Even though it was dangerous to acknowledge what you had in your possession, he offered to share from their sizable stockpile of canned goods for the night. It had gotten them in the door, so to speak, with Grimes telling him to get his men and the food, and they'd talk. Madison had looked up the hill and whistled, windmilling his arm.

Tim and Buster had trudged down the hill, each with a baby on one arm and a gun in the other hand, Tim with a backpack strapped on. They'd settled by the fire and handed out the food, ignoring the hushed whispers and stares. Grimes and his crew told of the destruction of the CDC and the loss of the old man's farm. Tim, who always did most of the talking, told about the fall of Leesburg and their migration north. Buster fell asleep with his head on Tim's shoulder, still clutching Lee and Addy like they were his lifeline. Two of the women, a brunette and an older woman with short gray hair, had looked at him with soft eyes.

That had been their in. Weeks later, they were still traveling with Grimes group and had become part of it, made their own friends. Tim bonded easily with Glenn and they planned and conducted supply runs together. Buster's focus was mostly on his children but when he took the time to talk to someone other than Tim or Madison, it was usually T-Dog or Maggie. 

Madison... well, he'd found someone after his own heart in Daryl. They could survive on their own but their own groups couldn't survive without them. They grumbled over those dependent on them but they were protective of their fellow survivors all the same. And for all the prejudices Daryl displayed, Madison knew that that wasn't who he really was, not at all. At times it was even like Daryl had to scramble for the worst possible thing he could say. Madison doesn't say anything though, not until the day Daryl cracks a gay joke about Tim when he catches the way that Tim watches Buster.

Madison just shakes his head, giving Daryl a hard look. “Man, why you gotta be goin' and sayin' that shit? You're better than that, Dixon.”

Daryl chews on his lip, looking down at his crossbow before letting out a whoosh of breath. “I told ya about m'brother, Merle. He raised me, sorta, but he never really gave a shit. But I always did want him to, even as I got older, so I listened to him and tried to be just like him. Him bein' all I had, didn't want to lose that connection. He only got outta prison a couple weeks before the world went to shit. Didn't have no choice, I just stayed with him and then we found these people and...”

“And what?”

“Supply run to Atlanta. Merle was fuckin' it up, high as a kite and wastin' ammo, drawing walkers in from all over the damn place. Coulda gotten them all killed. They handcuffed him to a roof and barricaded the door, left him there. We went back for him later. The door had been busted, all we found was a saw and his hand.” Daryl looks like it pains him to be saying all this, and he looks around to make sure no one's watching or paying attention before he continues. “I was pissed, because that was the only family I had left, everything I had left in this shithole of a world. But the longer he's gone... the longer he's gone, the more I wish I'd never let him back into my house in the first place.”

That's the kind of guy that Madison has gotten to know, the man that's becoming his best friend if he isn't already. For all that the rest of Grimes's crew, except Carol, treat Daryl like he's some stupid redneck only good for following orders and providing fresh meat, the guy's pretty damned smart and not just survival smart. He can rattle off facts and statistics about the strangest things, like he's some kind of damn Cliff Clavin. Tapped once by Madison about the source of his knowledge, Daryl had admitted to frequenting the library like it was some deep dark secret and that he'd always regretted dropping out of high school.

It's quiet as they both put away the weapons they've just cleaned and loaded, slouching back in their lawn chairs and watching the activities of the rest of the camp. It's mostly a division of family units. Grimes and his family, Hershel and his girls. Tim and Glenn are analyzing a map while Carol looks like she's starting to do some laundry. Madison jumps and then oofs when Addy lands rather heavily in his lap. He looks up at Buster, who still has Lee balanced on his hip, and raises an eyebrow.

“Told Carol I'd help her with the laundry.” Buster mutters. Madison tries not to grin. Buster has taken huge issues with the work distribution and the implication that some jobs are 'women's work' that the other men won't help with. “You and Dixon watch the kids?”

He doesn't wait for an answer, just hands Lee to a startled Daryl. Daryl stares at the baby before easing him onto his lap where the boy immediately falls asleep. Madison chuckles, hand rubbing absent circles on Addy's back. “S'a compliment, y'know?”

“What is?”

“Posey. Trusting you with the baby. Ain't you noticed?”

Daryl blinks slowly and then nods. “Just you and Lincecum's the only ones he leaves the kids with. Why the hell did he give me this one?”

“Well, I trust you. If I do, then I guess he does too.”

Madison rests his head back and lets his eyes shut, smiling to himself at the look of pure astonishment on Daryl's face.


End file.
